20 English Little League

 

Introduction

At this point, we reach the final album that I've listened to 'properly' (i.e. the whole thing and not tracks that popped up randomly on the 'big playlist'). 

But before we get started, I'm going to plug my new podcast that I mentioned in the previous post. It's called Steve's Mix Tapes and the website is here. You can listen on Soundcloud, Podbean, Apple Podcasts or YouTube.

The first episode was a solo affair; episode 2 features guest mixer Ian Forth from the highly recommended podcast Sombrero Fallout. 

Enough plugging, let's get on with this LP...

The Album

Solid enough

I was starting to feel like a bit of a stuck record with the 'opening track hits the ground running and is a highlight' mantra. But while there's nothing much wrong with 'Xeno Pariah' and its crunchy riff, downbeat interludes and keening melody, it doesn't quite match the openers on the last few albums. In fact, this is the first occasion since Mag Earwhig! that an introductory song hasn't made it onto the 'favourites' playlist. 

It's solid enough: a comment that can be applied to several other songs here. 'Know Me As Heavy' has a murky, rambling verse that leads into an almost but not quite entirely uplifting chorus; the weighty, stacatto riff of 'Trashcan Full Of Nails' gives it a certain gravitas, but despite the more considered minor-chord digressions, it has a workmanlike feel. 'The Quiet Game' boasts an engagingly bluesy riff, but meanders a little aimlessly. 'Taciturn Cave' is an amalgamation of potentially interesting riffs that lacks overall coherence. All decent tracks, but 7/10 stuff rather than true highlights...

Seagulls don't know what they're circling

...but the album is certainly not without its highlights. The stand-out track for me is 'Biographer Seahorse' (such a great title), where the haunting melody floats around a messy concoction of arpeggios and distorted chords and Bob ponders important questions such as why 'seagulls don't know what they're circling.' 

'Flunky Minnows' bursts with tuneful invention and lyrical playfulness: 'everything is wonderful and microscopes are fun / we're younger diamonds, hate your terminology.' The 70s glam rock stomp of 'Crybaby 4 Star Hotel' is a lot of fun, despite (or perhaps because of) the occasionally strained vocal. 

The anthemic 'Send To Celeste (And The Cosmic Athletes)' also made it onto my 'favourites' playlist. Brittle, plaintive and poignant, its direct simplicity is effective and moving. There's also a welcome intrigue to its lyric: 'A ruffled lake, a waffled sea, the golden eggs of prophecy / the process drives an appetite, the prophecies are always right.' There's a winning sparseness to 'Birds', which pairs an almost atonal drone with a captivatingly melancholy melody.

Because it's expected

'Reflections In A Metal Whistle', 'Sir Garlic Breath' and 'A Burning Glass' are all lo-fi, abrasive and experimental interludes; the type of thing that used to work so well in stitching together the 'classic' mid-90s LPs. Here, they feel just a little perfunctory, although 'Whistle' does eventually start to build into something a little more substantial. But it kind of feels like the band are including this sort of stuff because it's expected, rather than it really adding much to the overall flow of the album.

In contrast, 'W/ Glass In Foot' (a great title), is fairly jaunty and energetic, but feels a little pedestrian and predictable. Recent albums have featured several songs that I have found to be overly twee and lightweight, and there are a couple here: 'The Sudden Death Of Epstein's Ways' is notably limp and mawkish; 'Islands (She Talks In Rainbows)' has a little more verve, but is still gossamer thin candy floss. 

'Noble Insect' is a curious thing. Whilst it flirts with being haunting and enigmatic, ultimately it's a bit of a one-paced plod that feels like it's just hanging around to make up the run time.

In Conclusion...

I have written a lot about The Fall, and, with them, one of the things I always kick against is the reductive 'look back bore' perspective that values a 'golden period' (usually 1980-86, or 1979-83 or somewhere in that vicinity) over the group's later work. But I feel I have to be 'that guy' here. The last few albums, including this one, have been just fine: a handful of cracking tunes; some solid if unremarkable stuff; a few insubstantial, throwaway moments. 

But the other day, I had a lengthy car journey during which I listened to Bee Thousand and Alien Lanes a couple of times over, and I was struck by the remarkable consistency of both. Let’s Go Eat The Factory, Class Clown Spots A UFO, The Bears For Lunch and this album all have their moments, but really do pale in comparison.

Given that these four albums were released over a 15 month period, it's hard to resist the notion that maybe a pause for reflection might have resulted in one, much stronger LP. (I am aware that this line of argument is a bit of a red rag to a bull for some, so apologies for any irritation.) 

For what it's worth, my tracklisting for such an album would be:

Next time, I'm into uncharted territory with Motivational Jumpsuit, the first album that I'm reviewing from scratch.

Added to the 'GBV Favourites' playlist: 

• Send To Celeste (And The Cosmic Athletes)
• Crybaby 4 Star Hotel
• Biographer Seahorse
• Flunky Minnows
• Birds

Album rank:

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